Flash flooding hits city streets ... but how much rain did we really have?

But there's a chance we'll never know exactly how much rain the city copped on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms rolled through Orange shortly after 12pm and the torrential rain resulted in some flooding in low-lying gutters across parts of Kite Street, and near Cook Park.

The storm water channel that runs through Matthews Park was also more like a raging rapid as the rain continued to team down for a good hour.

However, weatherzone.com's official weather station for Orange out at the airport, near Spring Hill, has the city's rainfall total for the period between 12pm and 1pm as 2.4mm.

In total, to about 1.30pm on November 22, the city's official rainfall total is at 2.8mm.

The forecast for Wednesday was for a 70 per cent chance of rain, with up to 10mm on the radar.

Across town, the readings in rain gauges in Orange were much more substantial.

Mark Sullivan had around 25mm near Bunnings, while Diane Alexander said 34mm was in her gauge at North Orange.

Fiona Baker had a mammoth 51mm in her rain gauge at south Orange.

Orange's last significant rainfall was recorded on October 5, with 40mm falling in rain gauges in the 24 hours to 9am that day.

The 2023 calendar year has been our driest since 2019, and prior to Wednesday's storm the city was on track to record less than 50mm of rain for the month for the fifth straight month. Although official rainfall data will ensure Orange's November total remains lower than actual reported falls.

To 9am on November 22, Orange has recorded 663.8mm in 2023. That's just below half of last year's total of 1340mm for the 2022 calendar year.